Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 1047 - 162 Drooping Silkworm

Chapter 1047: Chapter 162 Drooping Silkworm

"What is this thing?" Curiosity drew Lina the closest to the drooping silktree, and the sudden occurrence startled her. She couldn’t help but step back and asked in amazement, "It looks like if swallowed by it, even if one could survive for a short time, they would be dragged underground, and teammates wouldn’t be able to rescue them."

"What thing?" Pannis shrugged and said, "The drooping silktree, of course."

"I know it’s a drooping silktree," Lina said with a headache. "I was asking about the thing that just burrowed out. It looked like some kind of worm, but I’ve never seen a worm with teeth like that, nor have I heard of one."

"Oh, that one, the drooping silkworm," Pannis casually remarked, soon regretting his flippancy, "Hey, calm down, it really is a drooping silkworm, but that’s just a name I came up with. They don’t have an official name; usually, the demigods just make up whatever name they want to call them."

"Drooping trees, drooping silkworms, could you possibly simplify it further?" Even the ever-expressionless Ava showed a hint of disdain in her eyes. Catherine muttered a few words lowly, then suddenly remembering that it didn’t suit a knight’s image, quickly straightened her face and coughed a few times before asking, "So, the thin strands on these trees, are they spun by those drooping silkworms for hunting?"

"No, the drooping tree is just a drooping tree; all the filaments are grown by the tree itself," Pannis shook his head. "Those drooping silkworms don’t spit silk; they just wait underneath."

"But, I think the drooping silkworms rushed out because they sensed the vibration of the filaments," Catherine began to question then suddenly had a realization. "Is this also caused by a symbiotic state?"

"Exactly, it’s symbiosis," Pannis nodded. "Actually, the hunting process isn’t over yet. Look..."

Where Pannis was pointing was the ground within the extent of the drooping silktreek. The ground, which had been calm moments before, began to undulate continuously as if some animals were burrowing beneath it. However, the occasional glimpses of the moving ground let the girls know that it wasn’t any animal, but rather the roots of the drooping silktree. As the roots tunneled through, the topsoil shifted along, and the large holes made by the drooping silkworms emerging were soon covered by the surrounding soil, making the ground look freshly tilled — apart from the soil which looked slightly different due to just being turned over, it blended seamlessly with the surrounding landscape.

However, this was not the end. After the tillage, a shower of falling leaves suddenly began underneath the drooping silktree, though there was no wind, and numerous leaves fell naturally from the canopy, covering the freshly plowed ground. Now it truly bore no difference from the other ground surfaces.

"No wonder these trees have so many seemingly pointless leaves." Vivian habitually pulled out her notebook and wrote down everything she observed, "And just now Lina noticed that the leaves under the tree looked quite fresh, that explains it."

After the leaf shower, peace returned under the drooping silktrees as if nothing had happened. The dense shade and the soft blanket of leaves on the ground looked peaceful and inviting, tempting one to lie down under the tree for a rest. If one hadn’t witnessed it with their own eyes, they would never believe that this place concealed extreme danger at all times, and any creature deceived by the scene would meet a grisly death within seconds.

"This is the characteristic of the drooping silktree; they share a very unique symbiotic relationship with the drooping silkworms underground," Pannis explained after everything had ended. "Each drooping silktree has about ten drooping silkworms living in symbiosis with it. The tree grows fine filaments from its branches all the way to the ground, which continue inside through the roots underground. The drooping silkworms usually cling tightly with their tails to the filaments and, once they sense vibration, they burst out of the ground at the corresponding spots to devour their prey. After consuming their prey, the digested excretions serve as the best nutrients for the drooping silktree, and as you have seen, the tree seamlessly handles the aftermath on its own."

"They also selectively grow in certain spots, don’t they?" Catherine looked back at the spot where she had stopped and still felt a bit jittery, "They purposely choose steep slopes making it easy to stumble into their traps."

"You guessed right, drooping silktrees only grow in two types of environments," Pannis threw another stick with boredom, causing the drooping silkworms to fruitlessly rush out of the ground again. "One is like the ones here, growing at the end of slopes and often in rows, specifically to catch prey running down the slopes. These drooping trees and silkworms are relatively weak, and they usually target slightly smaller magical beasts. The other type grows in slightly harsher environments, forming a relatively comfortable area. These drooping silktrees are usually massive, and the cohabiting drooping silkworms can sometimes be as large as eight meters in diameter. Actually, I wonder whether such large-sized worms underground would destroy the roots of the drooping silktree. Or does the drooping silktree perhaps preserve a path for the worms to attack? But I guess these questions will likely remain unanswered as I don’t want to provoke these large worms again."

"Haha, what I really want to know," Lina nudged Pannis’s arm with her elbow, teasingly asking, "is how you managed to crawl out of a worm’s stomach the first time. Even for a demigod, it couldn’t have been easy to climb out from so deep underground. Tell us about your experience."

"Cough, cough, I’m so clever, how could I possibly be swallowed." Mr. Pannis coughed repeatedly, intentionally puffing out his chest and holding his head high, avoiding the girls’ eyes as he awkwardly said, "I had no idea the stomach walls of the worm were almost all teeth, nor did I know their usual nesting dens are over sixty meters deep underground. I didn’t even know they don’t have a distinct front and back, and either side could serve as the head and be used for eating, haha, I’ve obviously never been swallowed, so how could I know this stuff?"

"What a fool." Catherine smacked her forehead in exasperation, sighing as she said, "Stop acting foolishly. Now, how do we get across? Do they only move under the drooping silktree canopy, or could they come out from somewhere else?"

"No, they’ve degenerated to the point where they can only rely on the silktree’s silk threads to sense the ground." Mr. Pannis tossed another stick and shook his head, "As long as you don’t touch the silk threads, they won’t attack, even if you pass directly underneath the tree."

"Dear Mr. Pannis, do you really like them that much? So much that you feel uncomfortable not seeing them, have you transferred your love for me to them?" Upon seeing Mr. Pannis throw a branch for the fourth time, Freya couldn’t contain herself any longer and clutched her chest, speaking passionately, "Don’t give up your love for me, dear. I can’t believe I’m inferior to them, why do you like them so much, ouch, Vivian, you hit me again."

"If you want to protest his keep bringing those bugs out, just say it directly." The mage girl snorted coldly and turned her head, "Don’t use such a messy way to express it."

"Uh, actually, I was just clearing the silk threads." Mr. Pannis scratched his head, holding the fifth stick and ultimately not throwing it, "As long as I clear a path without silk threads, we can pass smoothly without having to detour."

"How lazy can you be?" Catherine said with a headache, "There are gaps between the nearby silktrees, it only takes a few extra meters to detour, is it necessary to complicate things like this, what if some threads aren’t cleared properly, wouldn’t that be dangerous?"

"He just wants to torment those bugs for vengeance." Flare quietly took the stick from Mr. Pannis’s hand and tossed it aside, whispering with a chuckle, "Kyle, I’ve noticed you’re becoming more vindictive."

"Don’t talk nonsense, I hold no grudge against them, I just... huh?" Mr. Pannis was still firmly denying it, but before he could finish, he suddenly turned his head in the direction they had come from, "They’ve actually followed us."

"Wow, that’s unexpected." Flare also turned her head back in surprise and said, "This little guy has actually gone against its animal instincts, it seems to really like you guys."

"Who followed us?" As Catherine turned around, she saw Mr. Pannis walking back up the slope they came, his face wearing a sleazy smile, rubbing his hands and shouting, "Little scarf, have you finally come around, wanting to donate your tail to us? It’s getting a bit cold tonight, ow, you bit me, you darn food ingredient."

A golden figure agilely stepped on Mr. Pannis’s head and vaulted over his body, with a few bounds, it was already in front of Catherine, diving into the knight girl’s arms, vigorously shaking its beautiful large tail. Its black eyes misty with water, looked as if it could start crying at any moment, its aggrieved expression was heart-wrenchingly pitiful.

"Little fox, how did you catch up?" Catherine was startled, holding the little one in her arms and comforting it, "We didn’t want to leave you behind, but it’s really too dangerous up ahead, you could get hurt."

"Ow, ow." The Illusion Fox screamed a few times, its eyes whirling around before suddenly climbing up the girl’s scale armor to her shoulder, forcefully squeezing between the girl’s back and her backpack, only its head sticking out, making a proud sound from its mouth.

"Haha, since it likes you guys so much, you might as well take it with you," laughed the Dwarf Conaida, "The little guy is so smart and has always lived in the forest, its intuition for danger is sharper than yours. If hidden well, it shouldn’t be a problem."

"I guess that’s our only option." Catherine looked somewhat helpless, but the corners of her mouth were slightly raised.